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The ObserverTelevisionInterviewLife after Fleabag: actor Sian Clifford on taming her inner ‘Claire’Emma BeddingtonAs sister Claire, Sian Clifford was a ball of pent-up rage and frustration in Fleabag. Now she is busier than ever. She talks about learning to soften her edges and making those ‘what if’ moments come trueSian Clifford is not Claire from Fleabag. I mean, she is: over Zoom, even with her glasses on in quite un-Claire hoop earrings, she’s instantly recognisable as the older sister, that seething ball of duty, ambition, suppressed rage and barely acknowledged love.
FamilyOvercome with grief when her 19-year-old daughter died, Vanessa Nicolson sent a message to her daughter’s boyfriend that she regretted immediately. Eight years later, she invited him round to explainHow to sum up my 19-year-old daughter, Rosa? A “free spirit”, a “one-off”, “a character”, “she lit up a room”. These were the phrases most frequently used in remembering her after she drowned, following a seizure while she swam on a warm July morning in 2008.
Hip-hopMotor neurone disease has left the French hip-hop artist totally immobile – yet he still found the means to compose a remarkable album inspired by Kate Bush Interviewing an artist who can’t speak is an unusual, almost meditative experience. I am in a small town outside Toulouse in south-western France to meet Pone, a beatmaker who helped shape the sound of French hip-hop in the 1990s. As part of Marseille’s seminal group Fonky Family, he produced hits such as Art De Rue, Sans Rémission and the hair-raising Mystère et Suspense, as well as 113’s hypnotic single Hold Up.
Queensland This article is more than 8 months oldRockhampton mob ringleader was head of ‘patriots’ group that posted anti-Islam contentThis article is more than 8 months oldTorin O’Brien led a far-right group that was deregistered as an incorporated association in 2015 Follow our Australia news live blog for the latest updates Get our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcast The ringleader of a Rockhampton mob that surrounded the home of an Indigenous teenager on Sunday was previously the national leader of a far-right “patriots” group, which regularly published anti-Islam content online.
Any objections? Priya Kansara, left, as Riu, with Ritu Arya as sister Lena in Polite Society. Focus FeaturesAny objections? Priya Kansara, left, as Riu, with Ritu Arya as sister Lena in Polite Society. Focus FeaturesGuy Lodge's streaming and DVDsMoviesNida Manzoor’s fizzing comedy joins cinema’s long procession of disrupted nuptials, from The Philadelphia Story to Muppets Most Wanted I blame the movies for the tense, wilful shiver I feel at every wedding ceremony I’ve ever attended – when the priest or officiator opens the floor for objections, and a few seconds of awkward, semi-amused silence ensues.
ConservativesSunak refuses to endorse Peter Bone’s partner to replace him in byelectionPM dodges opportunity to give backing to Helen Harrison as the Conservative candidate for Wellingborough seat UK politics live – latest updates Rishi Sunak has refused to endorse the partner of the disgraced former Conservative MP Peter Bone to replace him as the party’s candidate in the Wellingborough byelection. Helen Harrison’s selection on Sunday has drawn controversy given the byelection was triggered after more than 10% of local voters signed a petition to recall Bone after revelations about his behaviour.
TV reviewTelevision & radioReviewFergie and Sven-Göran Eriksson were among the stars duped by tabloid journalist Mazher Mahmood’s fake Arabic garb – before he was jailed. This dramatic documentary looks at the dark tale Like Frank Zappa’s Sheikh Yerbouti, Mazher Mahmood’s appropriation of Arabic dress leaves a nasty aftertaste. In his pomp, between the mid-1990s and his sentence for perverting the course of justice in 2016, the award-winning Brummie red-top hack of Punjabi heritage revelled in his self-endowed honorific – the king of sting.
Top 10sFictionFrom sunny novels that revel in the picturesque to stark reports from one of the poorest regions in northern Europe, this county’s literature deserves more than a visit ‘Why am I so incredibly and incurably romantic about Cornwall?” wrote Virginia Woolf in 1921. For centuries, the natural beauty of Cornwall has captured the imagination of writers and the resulting literature is as varied as the landscape itself, from sunny novels that revel in the picturesque to authentic and unflinching depictions of one of the poorest regions in northern Europe.
Categories Nooks and crannies Yesteryear Semantic enigmas The body beautiful Red tape, white lies Speculative science This sceptred isle Root of all evil Ethical conundrums This sporting life Stage and screen Birds and the bees SPECULATIVE SCIENCEWhy is it that when you add two even numbers together, the result remains even, but two odd numbers also become even?